shaeconnorwrites

Every year, my sister and I take a trip up to Ellijay in north Georgia to buy a heaping pile of apples and apple products. We went to the Georgia Apple Festival there for a couple of years, but we decided we’d rather miss the crowds and just visit a couple of apple-centric sellers instead: Panorama Farm Market and Penland’s Apple House.

We usually pick up a couple of varieties of apples, but our main focus is on the other products. We love apple fritters, apple cider (which we freeze for Thanksgiving), apple bread, apple slushies, apple butter… pretty much any kind of apple-y thing you can imagine. It’s a 3-hour round trip, and we’ll spend at least fifty bucks, but it will be worth every minute and penny.

As a bonus, we’ll stop in Jasper on the way home and have barbecue for lunch. If you’re ever in the area, hunt up Davis BBQ. Yum!

Image: akeeris / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’m not a big soup fan, but when the weather turns chilly and wet, like it is here right now, not much is better to warm you right up. We have a close family friend who loves French onion soup and begs me to make my version almost every time we get together. It’s so quick and easy and so, so good.

Easy French Onion Soup
(modified from a Rachael Ray recipe)

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
6 medium onions, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
1/2 cup dry sherry
6 cups beef broth or stock
4 thick slices crusty bread, cut into 1-inch chunks and toasted
About 2 cups shredded cheese (I like smoked gouda)

Heat a deep (soup) pot over medium-high heat. Add oil and butter and stir to melt, then add onions. Season with salt, pepper, and thyme. Cook onions about 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until caramel colored. Add bay leaf and sherry and deglaze. Add broth, cover pot, and bring just to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Arrange four small, deep soup bowls or crocks on a cookie sheet. Preheat broiler to high. Place bread in bowls and ladle soup over. Cover each bowl with a mound of cheese. Place cookie sheet with soup bowls on it under hot broiler until cheese melts and bubbles. Remove and serve immediately (and carefully!).

At my Day Job, one of my co-workers brings in baked goods of some kind every Friday. This can range from quick breads to scones to cobbler to foccacia. It’s a nice thing to look forward to during the week. 🙂

My favorite is Cheddar Cheese Dill Bread. It’s a basic quick bread packed with flavor. My co-worker was kind enough to share the recipe, and now I’m sharing it with all of you!

Cheddar Cheese Dill Bread

2 cups flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tbsp dried dill weed
1 tbsp dried minced onion
4 oz (about 1 cup) extra-sharp cheddar cheese
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 egg or ¼ cup egg substitute
1 cup low-fat buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degreesF. In large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, dill, and minced onion. Coarsely grate cheese. Add to dry ingredients. Mix well so that cheese is coated with dry ingredients and no longer clumps together. Add, oil, egg, and buttermilk. Mix only until dry ingredients are incorporated (do not overmix!). Spoon batter into a greased or nonstick 9- × 5- × 3-inch loaf pan. Bake for one hour or until a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean. Cool bread in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Makes one (delicious!) loaf.